The dangerous and ruthless Megatron from the Transformers Prime TV series makes a toy appearance in the newer Robots in Disguise toyline. But his colours and weapons aren’t what they looked like on the show. Is this bad? Let’s find out.

Cybertronian Jet Mode

TF Prime RID Megatron – Cybertronian Jet Mode

Megatron’s alt mode is a Cybertronian jet, and somewhat hints that this alt mode was an idea maybe from the movie line. Anyhow, it looks okay. Some gaps in the sides and bottom of the jet mode look displeasing, and part of the head is very visible too and that’s not good at all. Anyhow the jet on its own is still fair and a good attempt at making another Megatron figure.

The problem starts when you attach his ridiculous looking gun on top of the jet mode. The colours of the gun are mainly brown and purple, which is an odd combination and certainly doesn’t go well with the rest of the figure’s generally white-grey like colours. But if you can ignore the colours, the oversized gun does make the alt mode a bit more dangerous looking. Practically though, the gun would be too heavy to enable the jet to fly and plus it would consume too much energy to begin with.

Overall though, the alt mode is decent, but drops to an “okay” when you attach the gun.

Transformation

Easy and straight-forward, but be mindful of some clearance issues when moving some joints and pieces.

Robot Mode

TF Prime RID Megatron – Robot Mode

Megatron in his robot mode looks close to his show counterpart. He doesn’t have the square darker toned bits on his legs, like the Deluxe version. He has a little backpack on the back that no matter how you try to shift it around, it doesn’t look that great from the front, but again this is a minor issue – at least the backpack is reasonably flat!

First of all, let’s talk about the positives. He looks quite show accurate as mentioned earlier, has quite good range of motion, decent enough head sculpt, and a straightforward transformation. The clear purple plastic bits on the arms and body add some nice touches to the overall robot design unlike some of the other RID figures (Optimus Prime to be exact).

Now we come to the negatives. The colours are downright off. White-grey like colours are not near the dark-grey/silver/gunmetal colours that Megatron had on the show. Of course, we expected that from Hasbro: when there are silver parts on a character, he/she usually gets those parts in dull grey colours in toy form. Well, we have something similar here only it’s not dull grey, and had they used dull grey it definitely would’ve looked worse I think.

Another negative: the gun. I have mixed feelings about this one. Having been spoiled by seeing Anime characters carry oversized weapons, I do not mind the size and shape of the gun at all. Heck, I think all Megatrons should wield oversized guns! The gun’s feature is when you push the large piece at the rear end of the gun, it will slide out the tiny blades at the bottom of the gun and merge into a larger blade. A tiny LED light will also light up, supposedly to light up the blade (which didn’t work well at all). No locking mechanism is available, though you could manually join the blades together (though not perfect).

TF Prime RID Megatron – Gun Aimed

However, the colours of brown and purple going together on the gun are just plain wrong (in my opinion). The addition of a claw weapon that comes with the gun is neat, and you can attach it in either hand. The colour of the claw is also brown, but it’s fine.

His joints in the hips are incredibly loose, and the crotch piece doesn’t securely peg into the ‘spine’ of the robot mode. The former problem results in Megatron not being able to hold his robot mode weight that well, making him hard to stand, and thus he ends up doing splits a lot of times. I had to use nail polish on the ball joints to thicken them to eliminate this problem. The latter problem, i.e. the crotch piece, is not entirely bad as one would think. Although the crotch piece doesn’t hold the small spine in place all that well, the hinge joint in the spine is strong enough to still support the robot mode without it collapsing on itself. But just make sure you peg that crotch piece back in.

In addition, the shoulder guards are on separate joints and sometimes make posability difficult. It also makes some of Megatron’s poses look weird when you have the arms raised very high, as the shoulder guards are not in line with the shoulders at all.

One last issue is his size. If you put him next to RID Optimus Prime, they are both in scale. But of course, putting him next to the larger F.E. Optimus Prime goes to show how much smaller the new RID Voyager Class figures are. So for people who only bought the F.E. Optimus Prime and didn’t buy the next RID one because the design of the latter Optimus was not that great, it may pose a problem to have a Megatron being smaller than Optimus Prime – that’s only if you are a size/scale fanatic.

All in all though, is this RID Megatron still worth picking up? This is a hard one folks and I’ll try not to be biased on this (because he’s my first Megatron figure. lol.). Expect a long essay:

If you want accurate colours ONLY – Not recommended.

AM-33 Final Battle Megatron Source: Tformers.net

Instead, get the Takara Tomy AM-33 Final Battle Megatron. This Megatron has the modified right hand that was used to wield his Dark Sabre near the end of the 1st season (right before Beast Hunters I mean). His Dark Sabre is provided, although not exactly in the actual on-screen colours. But easily forgivable because that sabre consists of 3 black Arms Microns! (More details in the last part of my recommendations)

Another option is to just stick to the Hasbro Deluxe Class First Edition Optimus Prime or the Takara Tomy AM-05 Deluxe Megatron, which have a nice silver paint job.

If you want accurate weapons ONLY – Not recommended.

AM-15 Darkness Megatron Source: s3.amazonaws.com

Instead, get the Takara Tomy AM-15 Darkness Megatron. This Megatron has the more show-accurate gun, and the gun also transforms into an Arms Micron! On top of that, you get a bonus Ratbat/Jetpack/Scythe Arms Micron. Both Arms Micron are made of clear purple plastic, and Megatron’s upper body is painted a nice chrome silver colour (I’m not sure if this is actual chrome or just paint though). (More details in the last part of my recommendations)

Another option is to just stick to the Hasbro Deluxe Class First Edition Optimus Prime or the Takara Tomy AM-05 Deluxe Megatron, which have a nice silver paint job.

If you want the best overall designs and colours – Not recommended.

The best interpretation of Transformers Prime Megatron is his Deluxe figure. As mentioned above, either the Hasbro or Takara Tomy ones will suffice.

If you like Transformers Primeand are on a budget – Recommended.

The Megatron figure on its own is fine and had some colour issues been fixed, even the gun would not look so bad. Like I said, I do not mind the different gun design (although part of me is bummed that it is not the same as the one on-screen). So if you do not mind the different looking gun at all, this Megatron will be recommended without a doubt. The Deluxe versions are also a good substitute if you are only looking at design alone. But if you want a bigger Megatron, then RID Megatron is recommended.

Also bear in mind, just like what I mentioned above, 2 other Voyager Class Megatrons have been released in the Takara Tomy Arms Micron lines, and have better paint apps and colours. If you can afford either one of these, it will be good to have your collection.

If you like the mold of the figure – Slightly recommended.

If you like the mold of RID Megatron, then you have to consider the nicer painted Takara Tomy versions. Thus I considered it “slightly recommended”. Recommended if you are on a budget and can only afford the Hasbro one.

If this could be your first Megatron figure – Recommended

TF Prime RID Megatron – Robot Close Up

As a first Megatron figure, this is a decent one to start off with. I was happy when I first opened him as it was also my first Megatron figure. I was bummed at the colour and gun design problems too, but I could overlook them easily. I also really want the AM-15 Darkness Megatron with the more show-accurate gun, but the silver chrome colours only on the top of the body are a little weird, and I fear they could crack any time soon. Hence why I am still holding onto my old RID Megatron.

You just need a Megatron as big as your RID or FE Optimus Prime figure – Slightly recommended

There is no other Megatron in the FE/RID or AM toylines that can rival the size of RID or FE Optimus Prime. But this RID Megatron is only slightly recommended as the Takara Tomy ones are better in my opinion. The final decision will be yours to make.

What would I say about the figure overall though? – Slightly recommended

RID Megatron & FE Optimus – Robot Mode Comparisons

Sure, this figure does NOT have the right colours, the right weapon(s), and some loose joints here and there. I really like the AM-15 & AM-33 Megatrons from the Takara Tomy toyline, but I have some issues with those Takara Megatrons.

AM-15 Darkness Megatron is great having the show-accurate gun and an extra Arms-Micron that turns into Ratbat/Scythe/Jetpack. But the fact that only the top part of Megatron is chromed and the lower half of the body isn’t, disturbs me. The colour scheme is not cohesive throughout the figure, although the silver is very nice. Some people may not like the fact that this Darkness Megatron does not have show accurate colours because of the increased use of black paint on the torso. Nevertheless, I would’ve liked to see that Takara used silver chrome all throughout the figure, or not put it at all. Heck even if they used the same while-grey plastic on the Hasbro version, this figure would be amazing because the weapons alone are great.

AM-33 Final Battle Megatron like I said has the nicest colours of them all. The nice dark-tone gunmetal grey colours and dark red used on the right arm really stand out and bring justice to the mold despite its flaws. The 3-part Arms-Micron sword is a nice bonus too, and having it painted close to the actual Dark Sabre probably is too much to ask for given its selling price (though the effort would be welcomed!) The problem lies here: this Megatron does not have his gun. Thus, if you are looking for the Transformers Prime Megatron with a gun, AM-33 Final Battle Megatron is a “no” automatically.

Now having considered all the facts about the 3 different Voyager Megatrons, all are not perfect if you are looking for only ONE version of the figure. I still think the RID Megatron is slightly recommended, and the best is AM-15 Darkness Megatron. If you are a completist, then I suppose you will be getting all 3 versions. If not, then only get the Takara ones. Otherwise, anyone is welcome to give this figure a try. It may be slightly recommended, but still has its own play value.

Conclusion

An okay figure overall. Not the best, but not the worst. Recommendations are mixed depending on one’s quotas, which are more detailed at the end of the “Robot Mode” section.